Friday, April 27, 2007

IF07: April Reflections Bring May Cycles


Finally Freedman is quiet for a moment and I have some time to reflect on recent weeks. Most importantly, I'm sure you're wondering how went the Ride this past weekend. It was fabulous. The weather was sunny and gorgeous, the route beautiful (go me!), and biking between them was great.

Highlights include spotting foam tubing on the side of the road, picking up banana peels to compost, hearing a mockingbird cycle through seven distinct bird calls in repeated sequence, trying to put fenders on my wheels only to find that I need to make some other improvements before they'll fit well enough, sharing the van ride down from New York City with Hazon last Thursday night and back up Sunday night, camping in the gazebo at Am Kolel Sanctuary Retreat Center, all vegan kosher catered food tiding us from Friday evening to Sunday morning, pointing out a rusty razor blade on the street and wondering why someone was busy shaving in the car and how bloody his face was trying to do so while driving, … not necessarily in that order.

Also story-detail-worthy, Sunday morning I ate breakfast as soon as it was available and then got pulled into ride prep work until it was time to go. At the last minute, I was still trying to find extra cue sheets for a couple riders, hoping to get my luggage in the van, and then Cheryl shooed me out. The important bit was that I didn't have enough to eat just before riding, so my blood sugar was low between the first rest stop and lunch. In experiencing this, I discovered that coughing and dry mouth, even while drinking plenty, are symptoms of low blood sugar for my body, and by the time I arrive at lunch, I was almost ready to take a nap. I wasn't feeling so sick, but I wanted quiet and a bit of rest. Eventually, laying on the grass in the sun, Mom offered me cranberry lemonade which, started to wake me up. I didn't end up eating much for lunch, but between the sweet Honest Tea beverages and the yummy cookies, Rabbi Fred Dobb reminded me that all my body needed was a little time to metabolize. And he was right. I was seriously considering SAGging to the next rest stop, but after about 15 minutes more, I was ready to get back on my bike and pedal on.

I rode 50 miles on Earth Day! completely from memory (without a cue sheet) and led the critical mass of 50 riders from Judiciary Square three blocks to Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. I'm satisfied with that accomplishment. Now, I'm looking forward to the New York Ride just four months away, featuring a new route, new midpoint accommodations, and more financial support to accept in between. Hazon is still accepting your contributions in my honor until July 1 for the DC Ride and until October 1 for the New York Ride, but please send them sooner than later so I can get my body into some of the cool incentives. I was really hoping to wear one of the DC Ride jerseys and I still can if I raise another $900 in the next two months. Can I find three $36 donations a week by then? Please help Hazon fund awesome Jewish environmental projects, like 10 CSAs and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, among many others, and continue to envision new ones, like the new Jew and the Carrot blog connecting the Jewish community to sustainable food production. Of course your support is always tax deductible. Thanks!

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In other news…

About a month ago, before the Passover retreat began for 150 seniors, Freedman staff got together for an organizational development retreat. While we didn't actually go anywhere physically, we had opportunities throughout the day to connect with each other, learn about our joys and frustrations in working here, and propose ways to initiate change in our systems of doing business to improve the satisfaction of staff and also of guests. There were many successes and also some failures over the course of the day, but overall it was mostly a fun and productive use of my time. Next week, there's a followup meeting for residential staff to discuss some additional concerns with administrative staff to try to improve our living conditions and more.

Passover was a crazy but fun 10 days. There were so many people here, but somehow we managed to pull through, supported by a healthy set of interns and the occasional humor associated with senior citizens' thoughts and behaviors.

Since then, there have been Elat Chayyim's first retreats of the year, a weekend of actually two EC retreats and two IF retreats. And before the full-swing-ness of summer programs begins in a month, there will be two of perhaps EC's biggest retreats of the year. The latter is Shavuot, the barley harvest celebration also associated with receiving the Torah, which in our case is also Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's first visit to Freedman. Zalman is the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement and presently its spiritual director. I had my first opportunity to learn from him last May at the Heavenly Days Right Here on Earth retreat in Philadelphia. This year's excitement will also include the appearance of a number of old friends and fun times shared around.

Well, I'm still feeling a little unsettled since my return to Freedman Tuesday evening. I haven't cleaned up my room fully yet and doing so before Shabbat will set my mind at ease, I think. But other excitements can begin as I now have my bike with me and can start riding around the neighborhood alone or with company and enjoy this beautiful spring that has finally arrived after a weekend of post-winter summerage. Yay!

Okay. Time for bed. What's new with you?